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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Clare Barrington, MPH¹, Luis Moreno, BA², Santo Rosario, BA², and Deanna Kerrigan, PhD¹. (1) Dept. of International Health/Social and Behavioral Interventions Program, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, 410.614.0075, cbarring@jhsph.edu, (2) Centro de Orientacion e Investigacion Integral (COIN), Calle Anibal de Espinosa, No 352, Villas Agricolas, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Background: Male partners of female sex workers have been identified as a bridge population in HIV transmission, though they are rarely targeted by interventions. Social network have been suggested as an effective via for promoting condom use among various populations. The purpose of this study is to improve understanding of how social networks influence consistent condom use among male partners of female sex workers in the Dominican Republic.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 380 male partners of female sex workers in La Romana using an ego-centric network matrix to gather information on social network characteristics including composition, social support, communication, perceived condom use, and encouragement towards condom use. The primary outcome is consistent condom use with the most recent female sex worker partner during the last 3 months. Multivariate logistic regression will be used to identify significant associations between social network characteristics and consistent condom use.

Results: Consistent condom use with the most recent female sex worker partner was 66% among study participants. Participants perceived that only 52% of their male contacts always use condoms with female sex workers. Participants had received encouragement towards condoms use from 83% of contacts. Subsequent results will identify significant associations between these social network characteristics and consistent condom use.

Conclusions: With improved understanding of how social networks influence consistent condom use among male partners of female sex workers, intervention implications that utilize existing social influence channels and foment additional opportunities for positive normative influence towards consistent condom use will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the social networks and condom use trends among male partners of female sex workers in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
• Identify the social network characteristics that are significantly associated with consistent condom use among male partners of female sex workers in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
• Discuss possible approaches to HIV prevention intervention among male partners of female sex workers that take into account their social networks.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Sexual Risk Behavior

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered